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How Did Truman Make A Barbaric Decision

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In 1945, President Truman had to make the most difficult decision of his life. Truman had to decide if the U.S. would drop an atomic bomb on Japan during WWII. He had a way to end the war with Japan, but doing so would unleash the most deadly weapon ever created.
The U.S. was 4 years into the war with Japan. While the U.S. troops were weary, the Japanese showed no signs of backing down. Truman knew he needed to protect his troops and citizens before anyone else. He made the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. Before they dropped the bomb, the demanded that Japan would immediately surrender. The warned the Japanese that refusal of this would result in total destruction. However, the Japanese did not surrender.
President Truman had the U.S. military drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima Japan on August 6, 1945. The bomb killed 70,000 Japanese citizens instantly, but they did not surrender. On August 9, 1945, the U.S. dropped another bomb in Nagasaki, which killed 80,000 people. About 185,000 people died from the bombs, instantly and in the months after because of the effects of the radiation. …show more content…

I believe that Truman had to make a decision that was harder than most could imagine. While killing so many people is wrong, it was his job to protect his citizens first. He did not just decide to drop a bomb in a quick minute, this decision was well thought out. The amount of Americans who would die if the war went on any longer was far too great for the President to risk. While it is very tragic what happened in Japan, I believe that Truman made the best decision that he could to try to keep as many people as he could from

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642 Words | 3 Pages

But he had no compelling reason to do so. The bomb provided a promising way to bring about a prompt Japanese surrender without the disadvantages of other alternatives, and in Truman’s mind, its use did not require a lengthy consideration” (Walker pg. 96). After the bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, people decided that the bombs were actually required. The people thought that if the bombs weren’t dropped, thousands of American lives would have died while America invaded Japan. The problem with this logic is that many people died in those bombings.

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As stated in document A, President Truman believed that it was his duty as president to use every weapon available to save American lives. By making the decision to employ atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it successfully brought an end to World War II. Now, while these bombs did ultimately spare thousands of American lives, it did also put an end to about 200,000 lives as shown in document E. Document A stated that Admiral William Leahy, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, opposed using the bomb because it killed civilians indiscriminately. He believed that an economic blockade and conventional bombing would convince Japan to surrender. As an opposite end of the spectrum though Truman’s advisor, James Byrnes thought that the use of “the A-bombs would not only cause Japan to surrender, but also impress the Soviet Union, and hopefully stop its expansion” (Doc C).

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In May 1945 when individuals thought the war would have already come to an end but were wrong. The US and Japan had problems that were still not resolved. Due to this occurring a secret mission was made by President Truman to construct the first atomic bomb. Therefore, it became tested and was finally used as a defensive device. President Truman did not make the right decision to drop the atomic bomb because the U.S. used this way of defense to not lose to Russia, more solutions could have been explored, and it caused more casualties.

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Truman’s decision to bomb Japan was right for many reasons. One piece of evidence that shows Truman made the right decision is when Japan captured our American troops and kept them as prisoners, they beat and starved them and even went as far as executing them, he talks about this in his radio report to the American people. " against those who have starved and beaten and executed American prisoners of war" (DocF). A second piece of evidence that shows Truman made the right decision is he was just trying to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans. He talks about both of these pieces of evidence in his radio to the American people. "

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The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Harry S. Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb is one of the biggest and deadliest controversial turning points in history. America’s president, Truman, decided that on August 6, 1945, the atomic bomb would be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II. President Truman’s choice to drop the bomb on Japan was considered one of the most debatable turning points. The settlement to drop this bomb was a wrong decision because this bomb killed more than 70,000 innocent people with 10,000’s dying later. Also, bombing a country that was going to surrender in a few months would not be necessary, and last but not least, the atomic bomb could give ideas for the world to start nuclear warfare.

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Truman was elected as president on 12 April 1945 within 3 months, following the sudden death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. During his first two months in office, Truman made the decision to drop the atomic bomb in Japan. “Nobody is more disturbed over the use of atomic bombs than I am but I was greatly disturbed over the unwarranted attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbour and their murder of our prisoners of war. The only language they seem to understand is the one we have been using to bombard them. When You have to deal with a beast you have to treat him as a beast.

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Sure, Truman may have realized that he might be able to “put down” the Soviet Union and force the Japanese to surrender, sort of a kill two birds with one stone. However, implying that this was the impelling reason for President Truman wanting to drop the bomb is absurd. Two major pieces of evidence used in this argument are the fact that the Soviet Union’s entry into the war almost certainly pressured the Japanese into surrender, and that General Dwight D. Eisenhower asked Secretary of War Henry L Stimson personally to not drop the bomb while at Potsdam. With the Soviet Union’s entry into the war, it was only likely that Japan would surrender. If they didn’t, that would still lead to Operation Downfall, and that was not an option President Truman wanted.

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602 Words | 3 Pages

The question everyone is asking is, did Truman make the right decision? I think President Truman made the wrong decision. He chose to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. The three considerations that lead to this judgment were: A lot of innocent souls died, Japan was going to back out of the war anyway, and dropping the bomb cost Japan a lot of money to fix. Truman's decision to bomb Japan was wrong because he killed a bunch of innocent lifes.

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Moreover, after the first bomb was dropped in Hiroshima, the Prime Minister, Kintaro Suzuki announced to the Japanese Cabinet that they had no choice but to surrender (Blum 2). However, they would not have time to do so since the second atomic bomb was dropped that same day in Nagasaki. This leads me to question Truman’s real motivation behind his decision. Why would you drop a bomb on a country that was on the brink of surrender? Even more questionable, why would you drop a second without giving adequate time for a

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John Hersey wrote that “[Mrs. Nakamura] immediately turned 4 on the radio, which … [was] broadcasting a fresh warning”. Along with radio warnings there were also rumors that Hiroshima might be hit with bombs and air raid alarms when enemy planes flew over the city. Truman also dropped leaflets on many different Japanese cities a month before the attach informing them of what could happen if they did not surrender. PBS translated the leaflets which said that “we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all our other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war”. With the warnings given by radio, alarms, and leaflets, this demonstrates that the Japanese knew what could happen to their beloved city and decided not to evacuate their cities.

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910 Words | 4 Pages

Dropping a nuke on a country can cause lots of difficulty. The Americans dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima was the most controversial topics in American history. Truman was the active president who made the final decision for this act. Many people believe that Truman made the correct decision while others are in complete disagreement with the decision. President Truman made the correct choice in dropping the atomic bomb because it showed the United States had power, it helped end the war quickly, and saved many lives.

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1210 Words | 5 Pages

The quote “Critics have charged that Truman’s decision was a barbaric act that brought negative long term consequences to the United States”(The decision). This proves the point that the decision to drop the bomb was very hard and no matter what he decided there would always be people saying he was wrong because the Japanese were going to surrender. Some people felt that it was a warning to the soviets and showed them that we are a country that should not be messed with. Truman states that his decision

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852 Words | 4 Pages

In the twentieth century, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, which were the most powerful weapons at that time, on Japan. It happened on August 6 and August 9, 1945. The atomic bombs killed 226,000 Japanese and ended the war. However, America should not have dropped the atomic bombs for two reasons. First, it was not necessary to drop the bomb to win the war militarily or to get the Japanese to surrender.

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863 Words | 4 Pages

However, the Japanese were committed to fight to the bitter end of the war and see it all the way through, regardless of the fact that the United States demanded unconditional surrender from the small country of islands. This further emphasizes that since the Japanese were not simply going to give up, Truman came to the conclusion that in order to save millions of lives, he had to take thousands. President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to warn the world about the new found power of the United States, force an unconditional surrender of the Japanese, and save millions of lives. With the controversy over whether or not Truman should have dropped the bomb, some consider the decision irrational and unnecessary.

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581 Words | 3 Pages

President Truman was treating people even worst by putting them through the torture of the bomb and the resulting effects of the bomb. Time became a major factor into the decision, and dropping the bomb was a result of that fear. On the other side of the argument, the Japanese did bomb Pearl Harbor which was the catalyst that got America involved in the first place. We as a country should not need to compromise with the nation who started the battle.

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